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Chemical Attraction

Saying “hours of video games” is like commenting on the number of milliseconds spent brushing teeth.

A pheromone is considered to be something that transmits information chemically within a species, via a molecular messenger. Thus, you wouldn’t be randomly seduced by a beaver.

Note: pheromones can be perceived through smell as well. Humans can, theoretically, be affected, but thus far there isn’t any conclusive evidence that shows that we are. One possible explanation is that higher functioning parts of the brain are trumping the primal instincts somewhat, thus making the effects relatively unnoticeable. Still, there is a possibility, that smell may actually play a role in human reproduction, due to chemical attraction. There have been numerous strides in identifying trends in human pheromones, such as a research study in which women smelled the shirts of men and picked a favorite. They invariably chose the shirt with an immune system different from their own. However, as smelling used shirts up close is not exactly something that is done in passing, or found particularly attractive, the pheromones of people may be too weak for any real effect to be noticeable.

There’s still a lot to learn about pheromones, but it’s being researched. A synthetic version was created in an attempt to replicate moth pheromones, which incidentally smells like jasmine and cinnamon, apparently. The active component was identified as methyl jasmonate. The synthetic version was partially effective at attracting females, but not to the extent of the natural version. It was determined that only one of the isomers in the ester were utilized in the natural pheromone, which may have been part of the issue. Just something random and neat.